Titling Woes

 

Does titling your book bug you? Do you have problems conjuring titles for your books?

Titles can be woes or wows, depending on your mindset.

Over the years I’ve heard such complaints from scores of authors. Their struggles are intriguing. Most of my books are titles in my mind before the first character takes a breath on the page. (Maybe authors like me are aliens.) “You begin a book idea with a title? Ridiculous!” Sorry, that’s the way it works for me.

If you’re one of the thousands having trouble with titles, what can you do to make it less troublesome? Let’s begin by saying you already completed your manuscript. If true, then you have a clear idea in your head what your book is about. Right? If you don’t, if you can’t synopsize your book in the briefest terms, then you’ve got a bigger problem. You’re not fine-tuned with what you’ve written.

The best titles are rendered in one, two or three words. Wordy titles are not often memorable. There are rare exceptions, of course. “Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass comes to mind. He used a four-word title and the book is a must read for all authors. Another exception is a little booklet (shirt pocket size) with a BIG title. “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear” by Stanley Popovich. It’s subtitle is “Using Psychology, Christianity and Non-resistant Methods.”

I can’t always follow this wise edict in my own book titles, but the challenge is to try.

If you must convey more than a word or two, consider adding a subtitle.

Here are some titles that remain memorable to many readers.

Oliver Twist

Moby Dick

Persuasion

Logan’s Run

Silent Running

Harry Potter

DOA

Carrie

In the above examples, it’s easy to understand why such titles stick in our minds. They make perfect sense with the stories they portray. A title isn’t a title for the heck of it. Titles should mean something pertinent to our theme or main character. Now forgive me for using some of my own examples.

Authors, ask yourself what is the gut/heart of your book? What one, two or three words exemplifies the meaning of your story? Can you identify the essence of your book in one word or two? Is a word like The really necessary? Dig for that gold. It’s there.

Night Freeze, my recent thriller, is an example of what is meant by a title depicting-in the most intriguing way-what’s inside the book. The title came to me and I built the story around it.

My current work in progress is a one-word title, “Perdition.” Perdition literally means Eternal Hell, but translates into singular form. This is a science fiction novel and the word is entirely appropriate to the planet prison I’ve created in the story. My brother suggested the title more than 25 years ago. The concept cooked in my head based on that title.

Lee Emory is an author of ten novels, numerous short stories and articles, who is also a professional editor for 40 years. She is the owner of/Senior Editor for Treble Heart Books Publishing. Lee teaches writing workshops and speaks at numerous writers’ conferences. Visit Treble Heart Books or email leeemory@earthlink.net to learn more.

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